Do you know when did the Hundred Years’ War End?

The series of drawn-out and bloody conflicts between France and England (each with various allies, such as Burgundy for England and Scotland for France) known as the Hundred Years’ War finally drew to a close with the Battle of Castillon on 17 July 1453.

The battle marked the final French victory in the war. It was a true disaster for the English. Due to a tactical error, they made a frontal assault on the stronger French, who also had plenty of artillery. The English lost 4,000 men, roughly half their army, without causing any significant casualties. In addition, John Talbot, the Earl of Shrewsbury and one of their greatest commanders, was killed in the battle.

The English lost control over Gascony, their last major territory on continental Europe – only the small area around Calais remained theirs until 1558.

The war technically continued since no peace treaty was signed until 1475 (the Treaty of Picquigny), but the English were simply in no position to fight the French. An English army did land in France in 1474, but the French king bribed them to go home.

Indeed, the English were then further weakened because the War of the Roses, i.e. the war for the English throne between the Houses of York and Lancaster, broke out shortly after, in 1455. This occurred partly due to the British noblemen who lost their possessions in France, not to mention the large number of disgruntled and suddenly jobless soldiers who returned to the country.

Another interesting fact about why the end of the war is relatively obscure is because it was overshadowed by an event that had an even greater impact on European history: the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks.